Slide fastener



Sept. 22, 1936. R. c. LEGAT 2,054,880

SLIDE FASTENER Filed Oct. 31, 1934 zyja f/werzkr 1 J Roeri 5, 4 1

Patented Sept. 22, 1936 UNITED STATES SLIDE FASTENER Robert C. Legat,New Britain, Conn., assignor to G. E. Prentice Manufacturing Company,New Britain, Com, a corporation of Connecticut Application October 31,1934, Serial No. 750,826 6 Claims. (Cl. 24-205) This invention relatesto slide fasteners, and pertains more particularly to a bottom stop andrelated parts. Fasteners of the slide actuated type, provided withbottom stops so designed as H to permit the opposed series of fastenerelements greatest separating stress to which the fastener is ordinarilysubjected occurs in the neighborhood of the bottom stop, and accordinglyit has been customary, in order to insure adequate anchorage of the stopmembers to the flexible stringers,

to provide the respective stop members with integral wings extendinglaterally and furnishing a large superficial area for the reception ofrivets or the like, whereby the stop members are united to thestringers. However, these laterally extending rigid metallic wings areobjected to by some clothing manufacturers, since they impart anunpleasant stiffness and rigidity to the gar- 3o ment adjacent to thelower end of the fastener, and since they are unsightly and detract fromthe appearance of a finely finished garment.

, In accordance with the present invention I provide an end stopstructure of very simple type which does not seriously detract from theappearance of the garment; which is not substantially wider than theinterlocked opposed series of fastener elements; which does not undulyincrease the stiffness or rigidity of the garment; and which has itsparts reliably anchored to the stringers so that there is no danger thatthey will pull'oif or that the stringers will be torn in the region ofthe stop device when the parts are subected to the stresses incident touse. With the above purpose in view I strengthen the lower end of eachstringer by means of a flexible reinforce member, for example, a stripof textile fabric such as tape, said strip extending laterally from theouter edge of each stringer along the front face of the latter to itsinner beaded edge, thence around the beaded edge and preferably alongthe rear face of the stringer to the outer edge of the latter. This tapemay be secured to the stringer in any desired way, for example, byadhesive, stitches, or the like, and may 1 be of any suitable material,color, surface finish,

width, thickness, etc. provided, however, that it does not undulyincrease the stiffness or rigidity of the garment or unduly detract fromits appearance. Since the reinforce strip extends 5' around the beadededge of the stringer it increases the effective diameter of the latter,thereby facilitating the ilrm anchorage of the stop member to thestringer. Moreover as the tape effectively increases the thickness ofthe stringer 10 at the point where the body' of the latter merges withthe head, it greatly strengthens the stringer against tearing where, bycontact with the edges of the metallic stop device, the stringer isquite commonly crushed, cut or otherwise injured. l

The stop device, proper, which I prefer to employ, consists of a pair ofcomplemental sheet metal members each having an elongate sleeve portionwhich embraces the beaded edge of one of the tapes, respectively, aswell as the reinforce 20 strip which surrounds such beaded edge,--one ofsaid stop members preferably having an.eye and the other a hook adaptedto enter such eye as the latter stop member is moved downwardly throughthe channel of a slider located at the lower end 25 of the series offastener units.

In the accompanying drawing wherein one desirable embodiment of theinvention has been illustrated by way of example,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of a 30 tion of a fastenerdevice, prior to completion, and

showing the application of reinforce means to 35 the lower end of eachstringer;

Fig. 3 is a section substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; 0

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view, similar to Fig. 2, illustrating othermodes of securing the reinforce element to the stringer;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a preferred form of stop member removed fromthe stringer;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the complemental stop member removed fromthe stringer;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation to large scale of a preferred form offastener unit;

Fig. 9 is an elevation showing the free end of 50 the preferred form offastener unit; and

Fig. 10 is a bottom plan view of the fastener unit of Figs. 8 and 9.

Referring to the drawing, the numerals I and 2 designate flexiblestringers having beaded 55 edges 3 and 6, respectively, to which theopposed series 5 and 6 of fastener units or elements are attached. Theseunits may be of any desired type, for example, such as described in.thepatent to Prentice et al. No. 1,658,392, dated February 7, 1928. Thebeaded edges of the stringers may be formed in any desired manner, forexample by weaving in a thick warp thread at the edge of the material soas to form an integral thick selvage, or they may be formed, forexample, as illustrated in the patent to Legat, No. 1,934,865, datedNovember 14, 1933, 'or in any other appropriate manner.

The improved fastener comprises an actuating slider l of any suitabletype such, for example, as disclosed in the patent to Legat No.1,967,270, dated April 7, 1934. The upward or fastener closingmovementof the slider is limited by appropriate top end stops 5 and 2 inaccordance with the present invention, the bottom stop, (that is to say,the stop toward which the slider moves in the normal operation ofseparating the opposed series of fastener units to open the fastener) isof separable comprising the part 8 secured the stringer i eri= iacent tothe lower end of es ,stener units and the complemental attached to thestringer 2 adjacent to the is of the series 5 of fastener elements upThe part 33 is furnished with a loop or eye portlon ill extendingsubstantially horizontally in a plane just below the lower edge of the e2, while the part i) has a downward extension l having an inclined orcurved edge at it? adapted to facilitate the passage of this stop memberthrough the slider channel. The stop member 8 also preferably has adepression 53 in its outer edge thereby in effect forming a hook adaptedto cooperate with the eye ill. Each stop member 8 and 9 is preferablymade from sheet metal and each comprises an elongate split sleeveportion which embraces the beaded edge of the corresponding stringer andwhose longitudinal edges are pressed toward each other so as to anchorthe stop member to its stringer member.

In accordance with this invention the lower portion of each stringer, inthe region of the bottom stop, is provided with a flexible reinforcestrip l5, 15, respectively. Thesestrips may be of any strip material,for example textile tape of suitable width, for example three-eighths ofan inch. Each reinforce strip extends from the outer edge of itsstringer, along the front surface of the latter, thence around thebeaded or inner edge of the stringer, and thence preferably across therear face of the stringer. The reinforcing strip is conveniently securedto its stringer by means of an appropriate flexible adhesive film orlayer l1, l8, respectively,suchlayer, for example, being of vulcanizedrubber latex or the like. However, the reinforce strip may be secured tothe stringer by means of stitches I! (Fig. 5), staples 28 (Fig. 5); orany other appropriate means such as not substantially to interfere withthe flexibility of the stringer at this point. The reinforce strip isapplied as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 before the bottom stop members areattached, and when the latter are applied, their sleeve portions embraceand are compressed to grip those parts of the reinforce strips whichencircle the beaded edge of the stringers, Since these reinforce stripsincrease the effective. diameters of the beaded edges, the stop membersare able to obtain a much better grip than if united directly to thebead of the stringer, and since the reinforced strip is interposedbetween the stringer proper and the edge of the split sleeve portion ofthe stop member, the edges of the latter do not contact directly withthe stringer -material. Thus the latter is not crushed, cut or otherwiseinjured in the application of the stop member. Accordingly the stringerretains its original strength and is further reinforced to a substantialextent by the reinforcing strip, even though the latter itself maytosome degree be weakened by contact with the stop member.

While fastener units such as illustrated in the Prentice Patent No.1,658,392 are very desirable, I prefer to employ fastener units such asillustrated in Figs. 8, 9 and 10, which, are slightly varied in shapefrom those disclosed in the aforesaid Prentice patent. For example, asshown in Fig. 8 the fastener unit 6 (having spaced attaching jaws ll, 22and the recess 23 for the head of the stringer) is furnished with anupwardiy projecting pin id similar to that of the rentice patent andwith a corresponding socket in the opposite or lower face of the unit.The outer edge of the unit is preferably curved, as

shown at at the part which comes into contact with the units of theopposite series during operation of the fastener, although this curvedsurface may, if desired, be replaced by equivalent intersecting bevelsurfaces. As illustrated in Fig. 9, the preferred form of unit difiersmost markedly from that of the Prentice patent aforesaid, in that thelower part 2? of the surface ,25 is slightly concave downwardly. Whilethis concavity is very slight, it is found that by shaping the unit inthis fashion the entrance of units of one series between those of theother is greatly facilitated, so that the operation of closing thefastener is made much easier.

While I have herein disclosed one desirable embodiment of the inventionby way of example, I wish it to be understood that the invention is notto be limited to the precise arrangement disclosed, but that anyequivalent arrangement, falling within the scopeof the appended claims,is to be considered as a part of this invention.

In the above discussion, the terms bottom and top, .horizontal" andinner and outer have been employed for convenience in description, but Ido not thereby intend to limit myself to the use of a fastenerpositioned as illustrated in Fig. 1 since the above expressions are usedmerely in a relative sense.

I claim: v

1. In combination in a slide actuated fastener including flexiblestringers having beaded edges to which respective series of opposedfastener elements are secured, an actuating slider, and a bottom stopcomprising separable members, a strip of fiexibletextile material,independent of the stringer, fixed to and extending along one face atleast of each stringer and around the bead of the latter at the regionof said bottom stop, said strip being of a width approximating thelength of the bottom stop, each bottom stop member having a portionwhich snugly embraces the beaded edge of the stringer and the strip ofmaterial which surrounds such beaded edge.

2.' In combination, in a slide actuated fastener including flexiblestringers having beaded edges .to which respective series of opposedfastener elements are secured, an actuating slider, and a bottom stopcomprising separable members, re-

inforcing strips of flexible tape independent of the stringers which, atthe region of the bottom stop, extend transversely across the front faceof each stringer respectively, then around the beaded edge of therespective stringer and across the rear face of the latter, eachrespective strip being of a width not exceeding the length of the bottomstop, and adhesive means uniting each strip to its stringer, each bottomstop member having a sleeve portion which snugly embraces the beadededge of the stringer and the strip which surrounds said beaded edge.

3. In combination, in a slide actuated fastener including flexiblestringers having beaded edges to which respective series of opposedfastener elements are secured, an actuating slider, a bottom stopnormally uniting the stringers adjacent to the lower end of thefastener, and a flexible reinforce tape embracing the beaded edge ofeach stringer adjacent to the lower end of the respective series offastener elements, each such reinforce tape being of a widthapproximating the length of the bottom stop, said bottom stop comprisingseparable complemental members secured to the respective stringers atthe reinforced portions respectively of the latter.

4. In combination, in a slide actuated fastener including flexiblestringers having beaded edges to which respective series of opposedfastener elements are secured,-an actuating slider, a flexible tapeextending transversely of each stringer adjacent to the, lower end ofthe corresponding series of fastener elements, said tape extendingaround the beaded edge of the corresponding stringer and along theopposite faces of the latter,

' and a bottom stop comprising independent members each having a splitsleeve portion which snugly embraces the beaded edge of thecorresponding stringer as well as the reinforce strip where the lattersurrounds said edge, the tape being of a width substantially equallingthe length of the stop member, one stop member having an eye portion andthe other stop member having a hook adapted to enter said eye portion.

5. In combination, in a slide actuated fastener including flexiblestringers having beaded edges to which respective series of opposedfastener elements are secured, an actuating slider, a bottom stopcomprising separable complemental parts secured to the respectivestringers, said parts. when united, approximating the width of theinterlocked series of fastener elements, and flexible reinforce tapes,independent of the respective stringers, each tape extendingtransversely oh its respective stringer in the region of the bottomstop, the edge of the stringer being embraced in a fold of the tape, anda layer of flexible adhesive uniting each tape to its respectivestringer.

6. In combination with a separable fastener of the kind having a pairoftape stringers provided with cooperating series of fastener elements anda slider for engaging and disengaging said fastener elements, aseparable end connection comprising transversely flexible reinforcingmeans which consists of an anchorage portion and a portion overlying thetape end on at least one of said stringers, and cooperating separableconnecting members attached respectively to said stringers, one of whichis rigid and permanently clamped over said anchorage portion.

ROBERT C. LEGAT.

